The second Summit for Democracy was held in Zambia, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea and the United States on 29 and 30 March 2023. AfricTivistes participated as a member of the leadership group of the Youth Participation and Engagement Cohort.

The Summit for Democracy is an initiative of United States President Joe Biden. Launched in 2021, it aims to address current democratic challenges and authoritarianism by building more resilient democracies, fighting corruption and defending human rights. 

AfricTivistes’ presents the Menu of Commitments

As a member of the leadership of the “Youth Policy and Civic Engagement Cohort”, AfricTivistes was represented at the summit in San José, Costa Rica by the Programmes Coordinator, Ms Aisha Dabo. On behalf of the cohort, Ms. Dabo presented the Menu of possible commitments on Thursday 30th March. This presentation is part of the dissemination of the commitments of the Youth political and Civic Engagement Cohort.  

AfricTivistes Programmes Coordinator, Ms AIsha Dabo, and Mr Jeremy Apert of the European Partnership for Democracy presenting the Menu

The San José Summit brought together young people, government , civil society and the private sector representatives from various countries around the world. Several sessions were dedicated to the participation and engagement of young people in the consolidation and anchoring of democracy in South America, Africa and the rest of the world. 

In her closing keynote address, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, emphasised two points: 1) the need for authorities to include young people in political and public affairs; 2) the responsibility of young people to show leadership in order to rebuild and refresh policies, economies and health systems. 

“It is true that it is up to us to integrate you by giving you a seat at the table.  But it will be up to you to put yourself at the head of the table,” she said.

Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield delivering her speech in the amphitheatre of the Tribuno Supremo de Elecciones

She praised the outstanding work of the Youth Participation Cohort and the leadership of the co-leaders: the European Commission, the Republic of Ghana, the Republic of Nepal, the Republic of Costa Rica, the European Partnership for Democracy, the European Youth Network for Democracy and AfricTivistes. It should be recalled that the Cohort carried out several actions prior to the Summit, including the production of a Youth Participation Handbook and a Menu of Commitments presented at the Summit.

Presentation of the Cohort’s Menu of Commitments 

The Youth Participation and Engagement Cohort brings together some 60 civil society organisations, governments, international organisations, private sector partners and other types of organisations from around the world. It is structured in three concentric circles to enable the actors involved to make a greater commitment with more responsibility to contribute to the Year of Action in 2022.

The vision of the cohort is to promote political and civic engagement of young people at local and global levels and help them understand democratic principles and the link between democracy and long-term stability and prosperity in countries.

The 33 actions of the Menu revolve around the following themes:

• Prioritising the voice of youth in governance
• Supporting youth in government
• Supporting young people’s freedom of expression
• Promoting a culture of youth political participation
• Promoting a culture of human rights among young people

In February 2023, the Cohort officially presented the Menu of Possible Commitments at the Global Coalition for Democracy Forum in Belgium, in the lead-up to the second Summit for Democracy this month.

At the 1st Democracy Summit, participating states committed themselves to clear and concise reforms for democracy in their respective countries. This year, they have presented progress on these commitments and announced new commitments and initiatives. 

The Summit for Democracy has 16 cohorts, each comprising governments, civil society organisations, institutions, etc. The cohorts act as drivers of change by following up on and scaling up existing commitments and establishing a vision for democratic renewal beyond the second summit. 

AfricTivistes and its involvement in the Youth Democracy Cohort 

AfricTivistes as a member of the leadership group of the Cohort worked on the menu of commitments to make it as representative as possible of African realities. It should be noted that the pan-African organisation works primarily in youth civic engagement and participation through the use of digital technologies.

AfricTivistes joined the Cohort to bring its field experience on innovative approaches to engagement, on  youth and civil society actors’ participation, especially through digital means. It is therefore only natural that it participates in the leadership group for the cohort.

On 27 March, AfricTivistes’ president, Cheikh Fall, took part as a representative of the Youth Cohort in the launch of the World Civil Society Declaration of Democratic Principles. Through 14 key democratic principles, global civil society calls on States to take the recommended actions for each principle in order to jointly strengthen shared ideals and address common threats. This Declaration is complementary to the governments’ “Declaration of Principles“, presented during the second Summit for Democracy.

For more information on the Youth and Engagement cohort: https://youthdemocracycohort.com/